Batting helmets are used to reduce the likelihood of head injuries resulting from being struck by a pitched or deflected baseball or softball. These helmets generally are comprised of a polymeric shell lined with appropriate padding. This shell commonly includes a crown portion, a forward extending bill portion, and one or two earflaps that protect the side of the wearer's head. Additionally, some batting helmets may include a face protector to protect the face and jaw of a wearer.
Helmets must fit snugly both to adequately protect the wearer and to prevent the helmet from falling forward over the wearer's eyes. Thus, it is important that a person have the properly sized helmet. While professional and collegiate players may have their own individually fitted batting helmets, youth and little league players seldom have their own helmet. It is common for youth batters to share helmets, and consequently, many do not fit properly, exposing the players to potential injury.
There has been at least one prior art helmet that attempts to solve this problem of ill-fitting helmets by providing for automatic size adjustment. U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,017 issued to Hefling, et al. describes a batting helmet that includes a V-shaped elastic band that automatically adjusts to the size of the wearer's head. This helmet, however, biases the wearer's head toward the front of the helmet. A shock-absorbing air gap is maintained between the sides and rear of the helmet and the wearer's head, but there is no such gap between the front of the helmet and the wearer's head. Without such an air gap, the helmet is not as effective in absorbing the impact of a ball striking the helmet.
It is thus a paramount object of the present invention to provide a batting helmet that provides for automatic size adjustment while maintaining a shock-absorbing air gap around the entire circumference of the wearer's head.